Newcomer Diciples almost made his debut season a playoff season, falling a mere 1 game shy of the Wild Card Mongers. He got some unexpected performances from guys like Cristian Guzman, and combined with a down year in the middle of pack it contributed to him making a run. The story of this team, however, is the rotation. I know of many teams that would kill to have the youth and power of Cole Hamels or Felix Hernandez, and Diciples has them both cornered in Chicago. Behind them stand Aaron Cook, fresh off a breakout season in Colorado and Doug Davis, who should contribute a full season now that his cancer bit is taken care of. The 5th spot is up for grabs, as Washburn looks all but done, and Kennedy and Brackman probably lose out on numbers in New York, at least in the rotation. The bullpen looks good too, with Wood, Vizcaino, Arredondo, Marte, and Mike Adams all in solid possession of jobs, if nothing else, and marquee ones in the case of Arredondo and Wood. If Arthur Rhodes can continue to play well, all the better even. Offensively, things aren't quite as set. In the outfield, numbers aren't the problem, as Ankiel, Choo, Crisp, and Gonzalez all seem to have the inside track on starting jobs, with Griffey, Pena, Owens, Patterson, and Heyward all possible to pick up ABs in some measure as the season moves along. It's just that that group isn't scaring anyone. They're a bunch of league average or slightly better players. Solid, yes, but nothing to build a lineup around. D-Lee at 1B is the kind of guy to build a lineup around, but he can't do it all by himself. Posada's getting old and injury-prone behind the plate, Guzman's due for a regression at short, and if Encarnacion and Grudzielanek are your starting 3B and 2B, respectively, it doesn't bode well for the overall offensive numbers. And, should injury strike this team, the backups are a significant drop-off everywhere outside of 1B, where Delgado at least has name recognition that Juan Uribe, Alex Cora, and Ross Gload don't have. If Heyward and Vitters can arrive and jolt the lineup very soon, it would be a step in the right direction. I think this team is better than the .500 they put up last year based solely on the pitching, but not much - probably 83 or 84 wins next year unless the lineup comes out and surprises.